Flat head

Re: Flat head

• WeAreSmalls member

  November 2013

  Both of my twins have torticollis and got their helmets  1 1/2 weeks ago. I feel bad but even with physical therapy started at 2 months, the flat spots were not improved enough. Part of what makes me feel better is that my daughter who is now 6 yrs spent just as much time in a bouncy/swing/carseat as my boys and did not develope a flat spot or need a helmet. I think they are getting more common (quite a few on the moms of multiples board have them). They are typically only worn for 6 months which is really nothing in the grand scheme of things. We were encouraged to get them measured for helmets after their 4 month check up. The person who fit them said it's better to get them by 6 months rather than waiting until 8 or 9 months because by that point they've gone through a big growth spurt and the helmets won't help as much. My boys are already used to wearing them and DH and I are getting the swing of it as well. Good luck!

  6 year old daughter

  Fraternal boys born on May 11, 2013 at 36 weeks 4 days

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• ArmyWife114 member

  November 2013

  My son wore a helmet for exactly what you're describing (positional or deformational plagiocephaly).  If this is something you're concerned about, definitely bring it up with his doctor!  This will be a little long, but this is our experience with his deformational plagiocephaly.

  
  

  My son was diagnosed with Torticollis at 4 months, and was referred to physical therapy.  He HATED tummy time and would not turn his head to the right.  Even with the improvement in movement of his head, his flat spot STILL did not get better.  So, I sought out a referral to a cranial facial clinic in a Children's Hospital near-ish to us.  His primary doctor was unwilling to give me the referral, all I wanted was it examined, that's it.  I asked her at 3 or 4 appointments about it, and I didn't feel she was adequately addressing my concerns because she brushed me off every time, so I got a second opinion who gave me the referral. IF this is something you're concerned about, bring it up with the doctor, and if you don't feel satisfied with their answer, seek out an appointment with another doctor in the practice (if that's possible). 
  
  DS got the helmet when he was 7.5 months old, and just finished with it when he was just shy of 11 months old.  It has helped tremendously, even from the first week he wore it 24/7, I noticed a huge difference.  We had to pay out of pocket (our insurance does not cover it), and I'd most certainly pay for it again if another child of ours needed it.  
  
  You can pm me if you have more questions and the Special Needs board may have some moms of kiddos who had torticollis and/or deformational plagiocephaly.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

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• ArmyWife114 member

  November 2013

  Also, the helmet bothered me (I missed being able to kiss the top of his head, and I missed seeing him without it on), but it's ok, it didn't bother him once he got used to it, and now I don't think he even notices it's not there!  It's not your fault if he needs one!

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

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• aeh72 member

  November 2013

  DS had a flat spot that required a helmet.  He had torticollis and although we did excercises at home, they didn't really help. He ended up in PT and then we had him assessed for a Doc-Band and he had moderate plagiocephaly (it was kind of eye opening; we thought he would be on the mild end for sure) so we decided to go with a helmet.  He wore it for a little over 4 months (from about 7 mos old to just shy of his first birthday) and it worked wonders!  It was a scary thing to consider but, in the end, it was just a minor inconvenience for us each day (keeping it clean) and DS was not bothered wearing it at all.  Seriously, at all.

  If you're not already in PT, you may want to consider it - at least an evaluation - if for nothing else than to have them give you an additional assessment. While not a slam against pedis, the physical therapists are specifically trained in this area and so I found their advice very beneficial - not just about the helmet, but also on how to correct the torticollis.

  

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• trudibell member

  November 2013

  We're also worried about a flat spot on our LO's head and it's really difficult to get him to spend extended periods on his tummy and I swear he has declared war against tummy time.  We've talked to the pediatrician about it and she said that most babies nowadays have some kind of flatness - so long as it's symmetrical and not REALLY bad she doesn't prescribe the helmets.  We try to hold him most of the day, encourage supervised naps on his belly, and it's gotten a little better.  Unfortunately his weight is in the 30% and his head is 90% so I think it's just more comfortable for him on his back.

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• carrotcake06 member

  November 2013

  One of my boys had a flat spot and I've brought it up at both his 2 and 4 mo appts. We tried to improve it at home after 2 mo, but it's still there. The pedi wasn't very concerned saying that it's "just cosmetic", but I'd rather correct it when he's a baby that his ears be crooked for the rest of his life.
  
  So we got an appt at our children's hospital and will be going for an eval in a couple weeks. Like a pp mentioned, we think it's bc he's a twin and was smushed in my ute.

  
  
  
  

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• jlpev member

  November 2013

  My DS had a flat spot. The Dr caught it at 2 months old. We started physical therapy at 3 months old but I did everything in my might to fix it. I rolled a towel up to propped up off the flat spot. Lots & lots of tummy time!! Stretches to make sure he could look both ways, kept all the action away from the flat spot so he had to look away. I even had my alarm set at night to make sure he stayed off that flat spot at night. I also had him nap on his belly, supervised of course.
  Once he turned 6 months he still had a flat spot but the Dr said it looked better. We stopped pt after 2 months. But I kept doing everything.
  He's almost 3 yrs old now but you can't till he ever a flat spot. I was a nervous wreck after I had DD BC I didn't want to go through that again.
  Good luck!
  

  

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• jlpev member

  November 2013

  Also take pictures every couple weeks of every view. It will help you notice a difference!

  

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• sfeebs13 member

  November 2013

  Will your LO sleep on the tummy? If so, are you comfortable with it? PPs have great suggestions. Also I like what carrotcake is doing being proactive about it now rather than waiting for it to worsen.

  

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• mks162 member

  November 2013

  We purchased a couple of these for my LO to help with his flat spot and it seemed to help:
  Boppy Noggin Nest Head Support

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• saphires member

  November 2013 edited November 2013

  Thanks everyone for your comments!! mks162 I actually just bought one of those a couple weeks ago.. I like it a lot but it stinks that it is not safe for the carseat  . Have been doing a lot more tummy time lately too, he is starting to enjoy it so I am crossing my fingers this will correct itself but we did visit with the doctor today and she gave us a referral to a cranial speicialist, they will do measurements of his head and determine the severity and we will go from there!
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

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• bburden member

  November 2013

  I just found this cool thing too:

  https://www.ubimed.com/content-lifenest.asp
  

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• wilsontl19191 member

  November 2013

  Noggin nest!

   

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• Sugaree5335 member

  November 2013

  In a way, I'm glad to see this. At one month old my pediatrician refered us to PT because he had some concerns about how DS' neck moved. We hesitantly did two months of PT even though several other (non-pedi) doctors told us that it was ineffective at that age. When the pedi recommended more PT at the four month appointment for a different problem we started to think that the pedi was getting kickbacks from the PT firm. This thought was furthered by the fact that when we told the pedi that we'd do more PT, but would have to be with a different PT group, suddenly he wanted to re-evaluate at the 6 month appt. If he'd just used the term torticollis I would have at least been able to research it.

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